Since about 2000, a young man by the name of Fang Shimin, better known by his net-name Fang Zhouzi, has been fighting a lonely crusade exposing the many frauds in China's scientific and academic communities. His efforts has gained as many enemies as friends.

This blog follows his crusade.

Friday, November 28, 2008

China Youth Daily tracked down a few students who had been expelled from the Newcastle University for using forged applications. Three of them agreed to be interviewed under the condition of not using their real names. They said all the students are now stuck in Britain unsure about their next steps. Eight of them had appealed their case and had them denied. Many were busy applying for other schools. But even if they are successful in that, they are not sure if they could maintain their visa status.

One of the three admitted that he/she knew that his/her application contained forged material. The other two claimed that they had never personally seen what were used in their applications. All of them had used some agencies in China to prepare and submit their applications. They declined to name the agencies.

From the interview, it appears that the agency or agencies took a free hand in fabricating TOEFL scores and personal experiences. School officials at Newcastle University appears to believe that these students were in fact swindled by the agencies. They have agreed to refund almost all tuition while remain unyielding with the decision of expulsion itself.

The mood of these students in their twenties is described as fear and helpless. Some of them have yet to tell their parents of their expulsion.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Forty nine new students from China, plus one from Taiwan, had been expelled from the Newcastle University in Great Britain for having forged their application material. A spokesman from the school was quoted saying "The forgeries, mainly certificates for English language qualifications or degrees awarded by other universities, are of such high quality that they could not have been detected by the usual checks carried out by admissions officers."

The school is advising other universities to take a closer look at their admission procedures.